The Hero and The Hero's Shadow
by ravenpie52
Summary: What is the connection between Steve and Herobrine? This story has a different take on what it might be.
1. It begins!

A rare thing had occurred, Herobrine was bored. He had finally finished his alliance with the ghasts, and he had no other ideas on what to do for now. He decided to take a stroll, maybe along the way, an idea would pop into his head.

He teleported into a random forest and began walking. Soon, he noticed a few endermen surrounding something. Herobrine just continued walking, endermen were a very inquisitive species and something like this was ordinary. He stopped however when they began to speak.

"Is it him?"

"No, he is the other one, the one that the creator had told us about."

Now Herobrine was curious, there usually wasn't anything Notch did that he didn't know about.

"He will wake soon. We must leave, he does not know of our kind yet."

The endermen left and Herobrine went over to look at whatever they were talking about. He was surprised; there laid a near carbon-copy of Herobrine himself. The only difference was that this man was clean shaven and his clothes were brighter and void of any stains. It was like he was completely new, untainted by the world.

Herobrine scratched his chin, "What are you planning now, Brother?"

The body began to stir, Herobrine teleported back behind a tree and observed, he didn't want to fight the man just yet.

The man sat up with a groan and opened his eyes. With a wobbly start, he stood up. Indigo eyes looked around with awe at what was around him.

"Hello?" The man called out.

Herobrine did nothing.

* * *

The man had no idea who he was, where he was, and how he got there. The man realized that he didn't have a name to call himself. The first name that came to mind was Steve, so he chose to call himself that.

The newly named Steve felt like he was being watched, so he called out. "Hello?"

No one appeared, so Steve just assumed that it was nothing.

Steve looked around at all the trees; he knew that he needed to get wood so he gathered a few logs. He held the logs in his hands and concentrated.

The logs turned into wooden planks.

Steve had no clue why he knew how to do such a thing, but he sure was grateful.

* * *

Herobrine was taken aback. How in the world was this man able to craft? Only he and his brother had the ability to alchemize items from materials with just a thought. The villagers were able to create, but it was a much more manual way, and it took a lot longer. This was why they had blacksmiths and other villagers in charge of many different crafts.

Herobrine had no idea how much this person knew or why they were here, but he knew that he had to find out. This man might just get in the way of his mission, and he _really_ couldn't have that.

* * *

**OH WOW! THE MYSTERY! What's Herobrine's mission? Is Steve his real name? And why can Steve craft? All questions will be answered, so stay tuned! It gets better, I swear!**


	2. The first night

Steve walked over to the edge of a river in order to splash his face. He looked at his reflection for a while, trying to remember anything about himself. This was beginning to be too much to handle for him. Did he have family or friends who were worried about him? What had caused his memory to be erased?

Steve stood up with a start. Could he forget everything a second time? He had no idea what caused it, so it might just happen again. Steve decided to keep track of all the things he learned in case such a thing happened.

He made a panel with some of the wood that he gathered and wrote onto it.

**If you forget everything again:**

**You can change things by thinking.**

**Your name is Steve.**

Of course, Steve had no idea if that was his real name. It was just something he came up with after all to fill the gap. He chose to make a correction.

**Your name is Steve?**

There, that was much better. Now, if he did forget again, he would know that the name "Steve" was something not determined yet.

Steve attached a stick to the panel of wood and made a sign. He stuck the sign in the ground by the river. He didn't have much wood left, so he decided to gather more.

* * *

Herobrine waited until Steve left the clearing to check out the sign. When he ran to it and read it, he was truly surprised.

"He knows nothing? Then, how do I find out what Notch's plan is? Brother, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on!" Herobrine's eyes lit up with his frustration.

Herobrine heard Steve coming back, he must've heard him speaking and came back to see who it was. Herobrine teleported away, right before Steve entered the clearing.

Steve looked around, searching for the source of the noise. When he noticed the sunset however, he stopped.

"Wow!" Steve took a deep breath "How pretty, this place is really nice now that I've taken the time to look. I bet the night will be wonderful too."

Herobrine gave a small chuckle; he couldn't believe how naïve this man was. He wouldn't survive the night if he thought that everything was always so peaceful. The creatures prowl through the night for a reason; they would kill such an oddity in an instant.

Herobrine really needed Steve to stay alive until he could figure out what was happening. The question was, how does he make Steve take shelter without talking to him directly?

He had an idea. He focused his thoughts on the objective he set.

**/toggledownfall**

It began to rain; Steve let out a surprised gasp and began making a shelter for himself. With that, Herobrine was happy. Now he could focus his efforts on figuring out what was going on.

"Interrogating a few endermen should do the trick." Herobrine thought as he transported away

* * *

Steve had just finished taking down a tree when heard a faint mumbling. He suddenly became exited. Was that another person speaking? He ran to where the sound was coming from, he was surprised to find himself back in the clearing by the river. Steve knew he heard something, unless it was just nothing like that feeling of being watched earlier.

Steve looked up to see the sunset poking through the leaves. He noticed the way that the sun's rays raced across the river in streaks. Only then did he realize how calm everything was, he was too busy worrying about his memory to pay close attention to the scenery.

"Wow! How pretty, this place is really nice now that I've taken the time to look."

Steve thought about how beautiful the stars would be. He could almost imagine the cool breeze and the sound of the rushing water lulling him to sleep.

"I bet the night will be wonderful too."

Suddenly, thunder crashed and rain started pouring. Steve was certainly startled; the sky had been relatively clear just moments ago. He really didn't want to get too wet, he didn't have a change of clothes or anything. All he had with him was wood, so he started to build.

It was just a tiny shack, but it was a dry, tiny shack and that was all Steve cared about for the moment. He rested his head on the soft dirt and drifted off to sleep, unaware of the terrors that were beginning to come out.

* * *

**MWAHAHA! I didn't answer ANY of the questions yet! Also, did you see what I did there with the question mark in Steve?'s name? There is going to be a lot of stuff like that. My main goal here is to make connections in the story for a lot of the game elements. I hope you enjoyed reading so far!**


	3. Of water and watermelons

Steve opened the door to feel the sun on his face, he had slept relatively well for just being on the ground. When he looked down however, he found a bone. It was just a single bone, and it seemed pretty large, around the size of his forearm.

Steve picked it up, "What's a bone doing here?"

He figured that he might just need it for later; he could use it to take down more trees without hurting his hands. He looked around to see if there were more bones around, but there weren't any. Steve wondered what he was to do next.

* * *

The enderman was trembling. Being surrounded by your weakness would do that to you. Herobrine had managed to get an enderman stuck in the middle of his water trap. It wouldn't be able to teleport far away enough to get out of the lake's range. It was a sitting duck.

"Now…" Herobrine threw a stack of blocks in the air and caught it "I might just be able to make a bridge if you answer a few questions of mine."

Herobrine kept tossing the stack in the air and catching it, watching the enderman eye the blocks. It kept watching them, up and down, up and down. Herobrine could tell that the enderman was getting nervous. He smirked and dropped one block.

"Oops…"

The enderman couldn't take it anymore, "Okay, okay! I will answer anything you ask, just make a bridge!"

"Good. What do you know about a man that looks like me? What has my brother told you?"

"All that he told us was that someone like you was going to help you in some way! A-And we should make sure that he doesn't die before you find him!"

Herobrine was confused, Steve seemed to know barely anything, how could he help him?

"Anything else you forgot to mention?"

"That's all we know, I swear!"

This was a problem, if the endermen only knew this much, how was he supposed to get more information? He really had no other reliable sources on the matter.

"Maybe I could obtain the answers with Steve himself…" Herobrine muttered

The enderman was getting worried, "Are you going to make that bridge now?"

Herobrine chuckled and broke the block from under the enderman's feet. Their kind had annoyed him for far too long, some payback would be nice. The enderman screeched and teleported closer to shore, it didn't make it however and landed in the water. Herobrine's chuckle turned into full laughter as he watched the enderman flail its arms and teleport away in pain. He hadn't had that much fun in a long time.

It was time to get serious though, his only hope was that Steve hadn't left the area he was in.

* * *

Steve knew that he needed to travel, look around and get his bearings. He could try to find people, and maybe get answers on where or who he was.

_GRROOWWLL~!_

He could also find something to eat. Yes, eating sounded good. Steve took down his house; he really needed to save his wood supply. It was all he really knew how to work with. He looked at the sign stuck in the riverbed, there was no way he was going to forget that. With everything gathered up, Steve set out. He picked a random direction and walked.

Eventually, he found himself facing a very steep hill. It was quite wide, so walking around would've just taken too much time. When Steve got to the top of the hill, he tripped. With quite a bit of tumbling, Steve finally made it to the bottom, right in front of a wolf.

Steve blinked, then the wolf blinked. What was he going to do?

"Aha! The bone!" Steve thought to himself triumphantly

He took out the bone, the wolf's tail started to wag.

"You want the bone?" Steve said, as he slowly got up "Then HERE!"

Steve threw the bone and the wolf chased after it. He then ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction. He did his best to dodge trees as he ran for his life, though he did hit his shoulders a few times. Steve reached a field and gasped at what he found. Watermelons! He broke them open and ate the sweet flesh of the fruit. He felt refreshed and no longer hungry. So, with a new skip in his step, he continued on walking.

He continued for a really long time. Sometimes, he would see something in the distance and run towards it, only for it to be a tree. He did get to see all sorts of animals throughout the day, like wild sheep, cows, pigs, and even chickens.

It was nearing sunset when Steve found a gravel path. He followed it of course. He then saw buildings, and buildings meant people! Steve was so happy, he could do a jig.

* * *

Herobrine teleported back to where he last saw Steve, only to not find him there.

"It's like taking care of a child…" Herobrine muttered

He began the search.

* * *

**Hey everyone! This chapter was a bit more lighthearted, which only means that it's going to get pretty serious next chapter. To be honest, it was going to have more jokes, but I decided to tone it down. Steve was supposed to trip twice, once on the hill and again on a watermelon. The first scene was also going to be TOTALLY different, this is how I wrote it in my story notes:**

**HE OPENS THE DOOR IN FIRST SCENE HES IN "Ahh wonderful morning" BOOM ZOMBIES AND SKELTONS BURNING ****_EVERYWHERE_**** and he's like WHAT ARE THESE?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!**

**Then I realized that it would mess some stuff up later on, so I scrapped it. Also, I really want to give my clumsy, innocent Steve a hug.**

**Anyways, stay tuned!**


	4. The village

Herobrine teleported onto a nearby mountain, finding Steve was going to be hard. He had no idea as to what direction he went. This was definitely going to take a while.

* * *

Steve entered the village to find the streets empty. He was going to move on when he noticed villagers inside the houses. They looked terrified, and some clutched swords close to their chests. Steve walked through the town, hearing the villagers talking about him. Steve had to keep himself from laughing at their nasal sounding voices. It wasn't the right timing, plus, it was rude.

"Is it HIM?!"

"No, it might be a zombie! It could be in disguise, they have been getting smarter recently."

"Yes, they even learned to break down the doors."

"Where is the golem and why hasn't the blacksmith released it yet?!"

"There it is!"

Steve turned around to see something nearly twice his size hobble towards him.

"Yeah! Take that zombie scum!"

The villagers were cheering and Steve was pretty worried. He had no idea what a zombie was, but if he really was one, he was in serious trouble. Actually, even if he wasn't one he was in trouble. So Steve ran for his life. He spotted a tiny house that was a bit secluded from the village and decided to check it out. Thankfully, it seemed abandoned, so he was able to hide there.

The sun set and Steve sat on top of a chest. He wouldn't be sleeping on the ground this time. He was about to close his eyes for a bit of rest when he heard a scream. Scratch that, several screams.

"The scout has brought back more! Grab your swords and fight them off!"

"One golem is not enough!"

They sounded like they really needed help. Steve knew that he wasn't trusted, but he just had to help them. He didn't have anything to help them with though. He checked the inside of the chest and there was a stone sword inside. Well, it was now or never. Steve walked out of the house to see a horde of zombies attacking the village. He saw monsters that did indeed look like him.

Steve gasped, "Walking corpses? Are these the zombies that the people here talked about?"

Well, it wasn't time to just stand and stare. Steve ran into the fray, sword in hand. The villagers watched on as he hacked at the zombies with great strength. Saying that he was scared was an understatement. Right then though, he didn't have time to think about how terrified he was. Steve's mind blanked out as adrenaline took over. Left and right, he stabbed, slashed, and beheaded as many zombies as he could. Then as suddenly as it began, it was over.

The villagers stared at him with awe. Then, after a few seconds, they all started crowding around him.

"You are amazing!"

"How did you do it?"

"You're our hero!"

Steve was exhausted, and he was beginning to get a headache.

"Everyone, please stop talking all at once please!" he yelled over the crowd

The villagers fell silent.

"Now, I have some questions I'd like to ask."

A villager in a white robe walked up to Steve, "I can help with that. I am the resident librarian here."

The villager looked around at the crowd, "I think it would be best if we talked somewhere private. Follow me please."

Steve followed the villager into a cozy building with bookshelves along the walls. It had a curious bench of some sort in the corner. Steve knew that he was going to take a closer look at it later. Steve took a seat and held his head in his hands. The headache was a dull throb and it was getting annoying.

The villager noticed this and handed him a piece of bread, "It should help with any pain you're feeling."

Surely enough, a little while after eating the bread, the pain stopped. With his headache gone, Steve could get some answers.

"For starters, why did the zombies look like me?"

The villager sat down next to Steve, "I think the better question is why you look like the one they are modeled after."

Steve's eyebrow rose in confusion and the villager laughed, but then settled down again.

"Some time ago, a mysterious man appeared near one of the villages. At first we welcomed him, but then, we found out that he was a demon. He seemed to conjure up items with dark magic; he had no use for a blacksmith or anything!"

Steve scooted a bit away from the villager. He could do the same thing. If this village found out, well, he didn't know what would happen.

"They did the same thing to him that we do to all of the witches, they banished him. He was strong though, they had to beat him away with swords until he fled. He came back though, and summoned the zombies in order to punish everyone who lived in a village like theirs! The demon made the zombies to look like him in order to be a grim reminder; that no one was to mess with the demon of white eyes...Well, that's the story! I have no idea why you look like he did, but you fought off the horde for us. That makes you good in my book! You can stay here for the night, see you later hero!" The villager left.

Steve was practically shivering. As soon as morning came, he was getting out of there. He had even more questions now. Why was there someone like him? He supposed that the only way to possibly get an answer was to meet the man himself, of course, if he was still alive that is.

But first, he wanted to take a look at the strange bench in the corner. On top of it was a thick book. Steve opened it and looked at the pages. They looked like templates, two iron ingots and a stick, cobblestone blocks in a square, three bundles of wheat in a line; it seemed that the villagers used it as an instruction booklet for making different things. It would make sense that such a book would be in a library of all places. He decided to stay up for a while and read the book. He could sleep in and leave in the afternoon.

* * *

**Steve and ****Herobrine both share the quality of being super curious. Herobrine wasn't going to dive in right away because he wanted to know more and Steve stays in a pretty dangerous situation because he wants to read a book.**

**Also, I really don't like how this chapter was written... I haven't had much practice with writing action scenes, so it ends up being rushed. I tried to put in a bunch of headcanons and to me, it just sounds awkward and forced in. THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE BETTER I SWEAR! ;D**


	5. CRASH!

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait!**

* * *

Steve got up with a groan; he was not able to sleep any longer. The village began bustling with activity after the sun had risen. The noise and the brightness of the library in the morning was not a good combination for someone planning to sleep in. Staying up reading the book was certainly worth it though, he had learned what was needed to make tons of different objects that could be useful later.

The librarian who had talked to him the day before came in, "Hero, the village would love to give you a tour."

"You can just call me Steve if you want." He laughed

"Very well then hero Steve, will you come to see the tour?"

Steve got up and nodded, he did want to see it. He didn't see much of the village in the dark last night and it would be pleasant to see how everything worked compared to his method. A large group of villagers led him around, pointing out the smithy, the bakery, and the farms. Steve paid close attention to the farms; he noticed how the villagers tilled the ground before putting seeds in. He knew that he would need to know how to grow food later. The villagers then took him to the last stop, their church.

A villager with a purple robe led him inside, "This is where we worship Notch, the creator of our world."

For Steve, this was the first time he had heard of Notch. If Notch was known as the creator, then he must've created him as well. If Steve was able to talk to Notch, then he could ask him who he was. Though, asking a god about your amnesia seemed a bit drastic.

"Does Notch talk to anyone?" Steve asked

The priest sighed and turned towards the altar, "It is believed that he did a long time ago, but he stopped for some reason. Nobody knows why though."

Steve's hopes were shot down. If the god hadn't spoken to anyone in that long a time, then his chances of contacting him were horribly small. These villagers didn't seem to know anything else, either. Maybe other villages knew more? He could gain their trust by arriving in the daytime, unlike the zombies. It was always possible and he needed to leave soon anyways. One slip up could leave him banished just like that man with white eyes that they talked about.

"I am sorry, um…. Mr. Priest, but I must continue my travels."

The priest turned around with a large smile, "Oh, of course hero Steve! Let us at least provide you with supplies for your travels."

Later on, Steve was waving the villagers goodbye with plenty of carrots, potatoes, seeds, and loaves of bread. He walked on, again picking a random direction. While walking, he thought about that special bench and book he had read through. He honestly couldn't write down everything that he learned on his little sign. Maybe he could make a replica and just keep it with him? Steve thought that it was a great idea, so he got to work and was able to create the odd little bench and book. It only took four pieces of wood planks, which was odd to Steve. He figured that it must've had something to do with his power of 'crafting' as he dubbed it. The name seemed to fit; he was making things with a skill after all.

He came upon a river and decided to test out his new knowledge. He focused on what the book talked about boats. Five pieces of his stash of wooden planks disappeared and a boat was created. Steve pushed the boat into the water and climbed in. Steve was going pretty fast and it was really fun, certainly better than walking. He didn't know that a sharp turn was coming up though, so he crashed. He flew into the air and hit something. When he opened his eyes though, he realized what he hit, or who he hit.

It was the white eyed man himself.

* * *

Herobrine had been teleporting around all day and night. He was getting really annoyed. He could just kill Steve when he found him, it would certainly make himself feel better. Although, the good feeling would only last for a little while, Notch created Steve to help him in some way. He would most likely regret it later.

Using his powers the whole time really wore him out. Usually, Herobrine didn't need to sleep all that often, but with him teleporting everywhere in his rage he had really depleted his power reserves. He decided to just walk for a while and gather up strength. He came upon a sharp turn of a river and saw the person who he was looking for with a large grin on his face. The problem was, he was coming right for him at high speeds. His boat crashed and he was sent flying towards him. Both men fell to the ground.

They sat upright and looked at each other in an awkward silence.

Steve stared at his lap, "S-sorry about that, I didn't know that turn was there."

Steve looked up and held his hand out to Herobrine, "My name's Steve, or, at least that's what I think it is."

Herobrine shook his hand in a daze, "You may call me Herobrine."

There was another pause, and then Steve said, "So what did you do?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, these villagers called me "hero Steve" because of me helping them, so what did you do?"

"That is none of your concern…" Herobrine looked away, "More importantly, you need to come with me."

"So, you know who I am?"

"Sort of," Herobrine stood up, "I have a vague idea, but you need to come with me if you wish to know more."

Herobrine would've preferred to have just teleported Steve with him to his home in the Nether. He knew that he could talk to Steve safely at his place. Nothing would be able to overhear them there. The problem was, he couldn't bring others along across dimensions when he teleported. They would have to get to the Nether a more manual way. They were going to have to work together and build a portal.

* * *

**The updates are going to take a little while everyone. Honestly, the only reason that I was able to update so quickly early on was because I spent a super long car ride coming up with this story. I came up only with the overall theory and beginning (and some of the end). The middle is going to require some thinking through, okay? It won't take months though, maybe like… a week and a half or so in order to plan it out and write down ideas. STAY TUNED EVERYONE! **


	6. Obsidian portal

_"__Notch!"_

_"__Brine, you are a hero, remember that."_

_"__I'm not a hero; I wasn't able to save you!"_

_"__I may be losing connection to our creation, but I still have enough power to make sure that you don't."_

_"__Notch, NO!"_

Herobrine awoke with a gasp; it was an awful memory to relive. Being around a younger looking version of himself brought back memories of the past. He looked across the tiny house to see Steve still sleeping quietly.

They had found a ravine where they could start in their hunt for diamonds. Herobrine had run out of them back at his base, so they had to go mining. Both of them were tired, so they settled on sleeping for the night in a tiny house. Herobrine built it of course, Steve was sent out with shears in order to find sheep and get wool. Throughout the building process, Herobrine noticed how Steve gave him curious looks whenever he alchemized something, but Steve kept silent about it. This was good, because Herobrine really didn't want to try to explain anything yet. His looks were getting annoying though, so he sent him away. When Steve sat on his newly made bed, he remarked that he hadn't remembered sleeping on an actual bed before. Of course, Herobrine knew that he was just newly created, he wouldn't have memories of a life he never had. They had spent the night in near silence, with which Steve thought was pretty awkward. He just assumed that Herobrine didn't like to talk and left it at that. He knew however that he would have to ask some questions soon, or else he would burst. He settled for asking him questions in the morning.

Herobrine opened the chest as quietly as he could, hoping to avoid the inevitable. The chest's hinges however decided to go against his plan and squeak very loudly. Steve moaned and sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning Herobrine, did you sleep well?"

Herobrine kept searching through the chest, not looking at Steve, "I slept…adequately."

"Well, that's better than nothing." Steve got up from his bed and started to shift his weight back and forth between legs, "I have been wondering, how much do you know about me?"

Herobrine stopped for a moment, choosing his words carefully, "I know a bit about you. There are however, things that I am also curious about."

Steve gained new energy from hearing that, he asked excitedly, "Do I have friends or family that I've forgotten about?!"

Herobrine turned towards Steve with a pickaxe in hand, "No, you don't have people like that."

Steve's shoulders slumped with sadness. He had no one? Was he truly alone besides this man that he had just met? Steve had gone out in search for answers, but he wasn't so sure that he liked them.

Herobrine saw how terrible Steve looked and decided to help, "Well, Notch directly created you. So you could say that he is sort of your father."

Of course, in that sense, Herobrine was Steve's uncle, but he wasn't going to mention that just yet.

Steve seemed to perk up; he smiled and began to gather his supplies from the chest, "Thank you for telling me that Herobrine. I'm glad to know that my journey to find answers was worthwhile. Do you know anything else, if I may ask?"

"I can explain more, but we need to be in a safer place to speak. You never know who might be listening in. That is why I am taking you to my home in the Nether, it is more safely guarded."

Herobrine and Steve began to climb down the ravine. They managed it by mining through the walls and making bridges of wood to cross. Steve almost fell over a couple of times and he grew uneasy every time he looked at the edge. They finally reached the bottom of the ravine, and rarer minerals were easier to find. Steve began to dig at the ground, only for the gravel blocks to give way and fall. Steve was lucky enough to be standing on a patch that was thicker than the rest, Herobrine wasn't so lucky. He ended up falling in lava.

Steve panicked, he was sure that that was the end of Herobrine, but amazingly enough, Herobrine was able to swim to shore. He was on fire, but no external damage was showing on his skin. He had an expression of annoyance.

"Oh my goodness, how are you alive?! You fell into lava of all things; shouldn't you be burnt to a crisp?"

Herobrine eventually stopped being on fire and he sighed, "I'm a god; such a thing will not kill me so easily. I am in a lot of pain though, so could you give me some bread?"

Steve gave two of the pieces of bread that he received from the villagers over to Herobrine. He was in a state of shock; he had no idea that Herobrine was a god. Of course, that explained how he was able to create zombies in that story the villager told him.

They continued on in silence for a while. Steve was busy thinking over what just happened and Herobrine was berating himself over the slip up he made. Both were snapped out of their thoughts with the sound of bones rattling.

Steve stopped walking and spoke in a shaky voice, "What's that noise?"

A skeleton paired up with a creeper turned around the corner and Steve ran behind Herobrine. Both of the monsters stopped when they saw Herobrine and it was a stalemate. Steve however was freaking out.

"What are those things? I didn't make a sword, do we have to fight them? Did you make a sword?"

Herobrine turned his head to look at Steve, "Why didn't you bring a sword?"

"I didn't think that I'd need it! All I've faced was zombies and I thought that it was just at night that those came out, okay?"

Herobrine held out his hand in an attempt to get him to calm down, "Listen Steve, these creatures will not harm us. They will not harm their creator."

"You made these ones too?" Steve watched as the skeleton and creeper walked away

"I've made many creatures in my time here. They aren't as aesthetically pleasing as the creatures that Notch created though."

Steve looked down, contemplating what Herobrine just said, "Are you, related to Notch in some way?"

Herobrine continued walking, "You could say that. Listen, if you can't fight, just stick with me okay?"

Steve walked with him and noticed something sparkling in the wall. He tapped Herobrine's shoulder, when he turned around Steve pointed to the spot.

"Is that diamond?"

"I guess he isn't completely useless…" Herobrine thought

Steve ended up finding a vein of six diamond ores. It was a very lucky catch. They had gathered the needed materials for the picks in one fell swoop. Herobrine handed three diamonds to Steve, who then made a pick and took out the crafting bench.

He noticed Herobrine looking at him and said, "I want to write down in the book what it takes to make the pick, in case I forget everything again."

Herobrine was then reminded of the fact that Steve shared the power that he and his brother had. Did it mean that he had other powers? He had to find out.

"Steve…"

He looked up from his book, "Yes?"

"When you fought those zombies before, did you receive any injuries?"

Steve's eyebrows bunched up, "Actually no, all I seemed to have was a headache. Why did you ask?"

"I was just curious, no reason."

Steve looked at him with confusion, but then went back to writing in the book.

This was a new development, Steve also didn't seem to sustain outside injuries. Of course, he didn't realize this yet. Herobrine wondered if he shared all of their godly abilities. He was taken out of his thoughts however, when Steve called out to him.

"So, what do we do next?"

"We need to find obsidian, it forms when lava and water mix in a certain way."

"What does it look like?"

Herobrine pondered for a second, "It is a very dark purple."

Steve snapped his fingers, "Oh, I saw some of that when we were in the ravine!"

With much backtracking and getting lost, they finally made back to the ravine where they entered. Sure enough, at the bottom was a patch of obsidian. It was however, surrounded by lava, so they had to carefully make their way to it. They began hitting at the blocks with their picks, and continued to mine for quite a while. Eventually, they each mined out a block of obsidian.

Steve sighed, "Wow, this sure takes a while."

"Yes, it does."

"How many do we need?"

"We need at least ten blocks."

Steve groaned loudly.

A grueling amount of time later, Herobrine and Steve managed to mine enough obsidian to build a portal. They then began to perilous trek back to the top of the ravine. The two were climbing, and an endeman teleported next to Steve. He looked behind him to see what the noise was and his face ended up right against its chest. The enderman made a strange grumbling sound. Steve didn't move.

"Hey, Herobrine? Did you make these too?"

Herobrine looked back and scowled, "No, I did not make those. It would be best if you didn't look them in the eye."

Steve began to sweat, "Why?"

"Notch looks through their eyes to observe the world. When you look them in the eye, they see it as you disrespecting him, I suppose. They constantly get in my business, I wish they would just leave me alone…"

Herobrine pulled Steve's arm, "Come on, we need to build the portal."

Steve made sure to keep looking down, the creature seemed powerful, and he still didn't have a sword to defend himself if it was angered. They made it up back to where the house was, and Herobrine began to construct the portal. It was built, a rectangle of obsidian with corners of cobblestone. It wasn't turned on however. Steve expected a bit more from all the work that it took to get the blocks in the first place.

Steve eyed the portal, "Is that it? Do we just walk through it now?"

Herobrine sighed, "It's not turned on yet. Do you have flint with you?"

Steve handed over a piece of flint. Herobrine struck it with an iron ingot and a spark was created. The spark landed onto the obsidian and lit up the portal. Steve looked at Herobrine for confirmation. Herobrine nodded and they both hopped into the portal together.

* * *

**Hey everybody! This took quite a while to be written. I am a tiny bit busy right now, but I will work hard on writing more chapters for you all. I can't wait to see where this leads! Stay tuned everyone!**


	7. Herobine's pad

Steve and Herobrine both exited the portal into the fire filled wasteland known as the Nether. Lava poured from all around into a sea of fire. Steve felt very hot, he had no idea how Herobrine could handle being in such a place all the time. It could have to do with him being a god of course.

Herobrine mined a hole into the strange red rock that was everywhere, "I need you to stay in here and hide for a little bit. Do _not_ leave or you could end up being blown to pieces. Got it?"

Steve agreed and hopped into the deep hole. Herobrine then teleported away before Steve could point out the large purple castle that he had seen in the distance. Steve felt the red rock, it had a very bumpy feel to it, like cobblestone. He wondered how long Herobrine was going to take, he didn't want to be stuck in the hole for too long.

Herobrine gathered his thoughts and commanded for Steve to be teleported to where he was. Steve then appeared next to Herobrine.

Steve was a bit startled, "Whoa! I feel a bit tingly, do you get used to that?"

"Yes, and we're here." Herobrine stated

Steve shook off the feeling and looked at a miniature castle. It was partly inside the strange red rock and had one small spire coming out of the corner. He could see cracks across some of the areas. To be honest, Steve was a bit disappointed; he was expecting a bit more from a god.

Herobrine could tell that Steve was a bit let down, "It is small, but serves its purpose and that's all I really care about."

Steve went inside first, Herobrine stayed behind in the doorway and destroyed the lever on the outside. While Steve looked around, Herobrine placed wood planks against the windows.

The place was very cozy, the ceiling was a dark wood that only reached two blocks high, but that could mean that Herobrine wanted to keep things out. The cool stone brick brought a nice relief from the fire filled world. The door that led to the tower was a very heavy looking wooden one. It seemed that it took a lot of strength to open it. Steve found a strange contraption in one of the corners, but he had no idea what it did, so he chose to not touch it. There was also a corner of short bookshelves with potted plants on top. They looked healthy and well taken care of. Steve noticed a book on a pedestal, not too unlike his own book and bench except that the pedestal was made of obsidian.

"Herobrine, what's that book on the pedestal?"

Herobrine turned around from placing his last plank, "It is a journal of sorts, I write down different experiences and what I've learned from them. Later on, if I want to use a certain skill that I have forgotten, I can easily look it up."

Steve looked at the open book, instead of normal words there was a cipher of some kind.

"Easily look it up, yeah right." Steve thought

Herobrine pointed to a table with benches on either side, "Now please, sit down. We have quite a bit to discuss."

Steve sat across from Herobrine, "So, you said that I was directly created by Notch. Can you tell me more about that?"

"Steve," Herobrine paused, "I'm going to tell you this straight. The reason that you can't remember anything about your past is because you _have no past_."

Steve stayed silent.

"When you first woke up, that was the first time you were in this world. You were newly put into existence by Notch and sent down here to serve a purpose."

Steve spoke with a quiet voice, "What is the purpose?"

"That is what I am trying to figure out myself. The endermen told me that you were sent to help me in some way. The problem is; I don't know how and I don't know if that is your only purpose."

Herobrine looked into Steve's eyes. They were a similar color as the eyes of endermen, but his seemed to be of a darker color. That's when it finally came to him, one of Steve's purposes. He was being used to observe him, just like the endermen! He had wondered why a copy of him would have such different eyes. It infuriated him that his brother didn't have enough faith in him. How was some _mere shadow of him_ with special eyes supposed to help anyways?! Steve didn't seem have the power to save his brother, and even if he did, he would have no idea how to use it!

Meanwhile, Steve was watching Herobrine, he looked as if he was getting angrier and angrier. Steve had no idea if it was something that he did or not. If anyone should be angry, it should be him, right? Steve just learned that he had no previous life and was created for some weird destiny or something. Despite this, Steve felt fairly calm; he was mostly getting worried about how angry Herobrine looked.

Suddenly, Herobrine teleported away to who knows where. Seconds passed and Steve found himself back at the portal, the tingly feeling came back and he knew that he had teleported. Steve turned around to see Herobrine crossing his arms.

"I need to think for a while," Herobrine said with clenched teeth, "stay at the house for now."

Steve was about to ask what was wrong, but Herobrine teleported away before he could say anything. He felt like Herobrine getting angry was somehow his fault. He knew that he had to make Herobrine feel better some way, but how? Herobrine could be on the other side of the Nether for all he knew. He figured that it had to be something special and it had to be something he knew how to do. That's when it came to him. He pulled out his trusty sign.

Herobrine was trying to get rid of some his anger, he exploded another mountain. He didn't like what came over him; he hadn't gotten this angry in a long time. He had just felt so stuck and betrayed, it frustrated him to no end. Another large chunk of netherrack burst into pieces.

Steve had finished his work and jumped through the portal. His only hope was that Herobrine ended up at the portal again soon.

* * *

**SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG! This piece is a doozy! So many important parts are explained and GASP is that the title cleverly hidden in the text?! I wanted this to be longer, but I needed the chapter to end here before other stuff happens. **

**Hey, I made Herobrine's place in the game for reference, you can find the link to the pictures in my profile.**


	8. One's regrets

**Heh...that month went by fast, huh? **

**In all seriousness, I am really sorry for this huge delay! The beginning of this school year has been really stressful and writing this fanfiction wasn't near the top of my "Things To Think About List". I will try my best to work more on this story once things at school get more settled. But for now, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The first thing that Steve did when he got to the house was make a sword. He now knew of the creatures that prowled in the darkness. They weren't going to let him off easy now that he wasn't near their creator. Steve needed to distract himself for a while; he knew that worrying about Herobrine would get him nowhere. He looked around the tiny house, it could use a bit of improvement.

Steve used some of what he learned at the village to make a tiny garden for himself. He planted the different seeds and vegetables into the tilled ground, just like the villagers. He then made a fence around the farm to protect it from any creatures wanting a snack.

He then decided to add a bit of decoration to the roof, it made the house look less like a block and more like an actual house. Steve liked the table and chairs that were in Herobrine's castle, so he made a set for himself. With the addition of four more windows, the renovation was complete. It was nearly night time at that point, so Steve went to bed. Next to Steve's bed was his trusty crafting bench, he figured that, with this being a place he will be at for a while, he might as well empty out his pockets.

* * *

Herobrine looked down into a newly formed crater, his breath heavy. He was feeling relaxed, but tired, he was finally cooling down. He turned his head to see a small group of zombie pigmen staring at him, they quickly turned around and walked in the other direction. They really didn't want to get on his bad side. Herobrine had greatly changed a portion of the Nether's landscape while he let off steam. A large amount of energy was expelled and he had lowered a large chunk of his power reserves that he had replenished by sleeping earlier. Being at low energy in the Nether was a bad way to be though, Herobrine didn't know what would happen if he was ambushed while in this state. He teleported back to his house and grabbed a golden apple out of his locked chest.

He had only taken a few bites when a shiver wracked through his spine. There was a fluctuation of energy somewhere in the Nether and it was strong enough to cause a physical twitch in Herobrine's nerves. He needed to check it out at once, he teleported to the spot where it had happened and was surprised. He was next to the same portal that Herobrine and Steve had used. He looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The only thing different about the area was a sign on the portal. Herobrine inspected it:

**It doesn't seem like I need this sign anymore with me not losing my memory in the first place… Anyway, I don't know if you're freaking out because of something I did or not. If it is, I'm sorry. I hope you feel better soon! I guess, if you need someone to talk to, I can be of assistance. ****–****Steve****?**

Herobrine stood and looked at the sign for a while, thinking things over. He realized that Steve wasn't to blame for anything that was happening; he had no control over anything. Herobrine let his anger get the best of him. He looked at the sign again and noticed that the question mark was partly scratched out. It was quite pitiful in Herobrine's eyes. Steve had such a kind heart and he was put into such a dangerous situation. The one at fault was him, he saw that now. He decided to do something that he hadn't done in a very, very long time; apologize.

* * *

Steve didn't sleep very well.

Adding more windows seemed like a good idea at first, it really did. He just didn't think about how windows work both ways. Sure, he could look out into the forest and enjoy nature, but it also meant that it was easier to see the inside of his house. The creatures that Herobrine created were very curious things. When Steve woke up to the sound of a hiss, he turned over to see a giant spider with its face pressed against the glass. Steve ended up falling out of the bed, and since his crafting bench was right there next to it, he got quite a bump on the head.

It was only when the sun came up a little while later that the spider finally left. Steve had stayed up for the rest of the morning at the other end of the house. He wanted to get back to sleep; the problem was that his bed was right next to the spider. Herobine's bed was next to him, but he felt like it wouldn't be right to sleep there. The spider scared him the most out of all the creatures that he had seen. All the other ones looked slightly similar to him, like the living skeleton. Steve was a bit creeped out by that one green creature at first, but it still stood up straight and had only four legs. This thing had _eight_!

Steve was really hungry from staying up nearly half the night, he hoped that he didn't have to go outside into the garden to get something. When he opened the chest he saw that there was a loaf of bread left. It had begun to stale, but he still bit into it with vigor. He finished the bread and heard a few quiet knocks on the door. Steve grabbed his sword from the chest and walked slowly toward the source of the knocking, it could've been the spider after all.

When Steve opened the door, he saw Herobrine with his head turned away from the door. He was rocking back and forth on his feet with his hands behind his back. Steve could tell that Herobrine was tense about something. Holding a sword wasn't going to help Herobrine feel any better, so Steve set the sword down against the wall.

Herobrine cleared his throat, "I… am, sorry for the way that I acted. It was unbecoming of me. "

Herobrine then shoved a lone yellow flower into Steve's hands.

"Here, it is an offering of peace."

Judging from the state that Herobrine's place was in, Steve could tell that he had spent a long time alone. He most likely didn't have much practice with apologizing.

"I accept your apology… and…uh…. thanks for the flower."

Steve opened the door a bit wider, "Care to come in?"

Herobrine nodded and they both walked inside the house. Steve sat down at one side of the newly built table. Herobrine stood in the middle of the house awkwardly.

Steve leaned back in his chair, "So, what comes next?"

Herobrine walked over to his bed and sat down, shoulders hunched over.

"I am going to explain the rest of what has been going on to you. You deserve the whole story, I see that now."

Steve was a bit surprised. Sure he was happy about this, but he never thought that Herobrine would reveal anything else to him. He always seemed so paranoid about everything, Steve supposed that this must mean a lot to Herobrine, him revealing information about himself would take a ton of trust. Steve was quite flattered.

Herobrine began, "Notch and I are related, like you previously thought, we are brothers. Notch and I lived in a dimension very different from this; it is called the System Console. Both Notch and I are able to wield the essence of this dimension to command space and time. We command reality to change and create, which is how I made all of those creatures, and how we made this place.

We lived happily in our dimension, until disaster struck. A foul creature was let loose in our home, a virus. It corrupted the space and nearly destroyed our whole dimension. In a last ditch effort, my brother and I fought the beast ourselves. It was powerful and attacked Notch, he had become badly hurt, and his physical body was withering away. Without a physical body, Notch cannot connect to any dimensions we created. I was so angry; I don't really remember what I did. All I know is that when I calmed down, the creature was drastically weakened. I checked on Notch, but it was already too late, once the process started, it couldn't be stopped.

He used the last of his power to seal away the beast deep in the Nether and send me into one of the dimensions we created. I cannot get back to the System Console; the bridge between the two dimensions was severed when Notch sent me here. It doesn't matter right now though, someone needs to keep constant watch or the dangerous beast will escape and destroy our creations.

Notch cannot leave the System Console, but losing his physical form has bonded his will to the dimension. He holds massive amounts of power, but he can only make small changes at a time. One of those small changes….was you. He created you for the purpose of helping me in my mission in some way. I don't know all the details though; I can't actually speak to my brother. The only beings that my brother can speak to are the endermen. They hold a connection with him and he sees through their eyes. I tried getting more information from them, but Notch is keeping them in the dark as well. I honestly don't know what to do."

Herobrine sighed and put his head in his hands.

Steve frowned, "Herobrine-"

"No." Herobrine paused and lifted his head, "No, just call me Brine. It is my true name, not the title I inherited. I believe that you have the right to call me that."

Steve smiled and walked over to Herobrine, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Brine, don't worry, we will figure this out together."

Herobrine looked up to Steve and smiled, it was a small, warm smile. It was a smile that hadn't been made for a very, very long time. The sweet moment was however interrupted by an enderman teleporting into Steve's house. Both looked at the enderman in shock, avoiding its eyes. Herobrine scowled.

The enderman ran towards them, "Herobrine! I bring an urgent message. The Ender Dragon you created has gone berserk! The End is being torn apart!"

* * *

**Wow! Okay, so this chapter is VERY important. It basically explains a HUGE chunk of the lore I created. I got stuck on how to do a bunch of parts, but talking to random people on the internet gives you awesome ideas. (Random Omegle guy, I'm looking at you!)**

**On another note: I'm going to create a side thing that will be a collection of deleted scenes that didn't fit in the story flow, or that would've messed up the plot down the line. They are smaller and much easier to write than a whole chapter. It will help tide you down until a new one comes up. (I hope!)**

**Also! I built another reference, this time it's Steve's remodeled house! I added it to the link that is already there in my profile.**


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